Revision
Important Inscriptions and Authors
Key inscriptions, edicts and court chronicles of Indian history with their author or issuer, for CAPF Paper I revision
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At a glance
SubjectHistory
RevisionHistoryAncient IndiaMedieval IndiaInscriptionsPaper 1
| Inscription |
Issuer / author |
Significance |
| Major Rock and Pillar Edicts |
Ashoka (Maurya) |
Earliest deciphered royal inscriptions; mostly in Prakrit and Brahmi; deciphered by James Prinsep (1837) |
| Junagadh / Girnar Rock Inscription |
Rudradaman I (Saka) |
First long inscription in chaste Sanskrit; repair of the Sudarshana Lake |
| Hathigumpha Inscription |
Kharavela (Kalinga) |
Records the achievements of the Chedi king Kharavela |
| Allahabad Pillar (Prayag Prashasti) |
Composed by Harishena for Samudragupta |
Records Samudragupta's conquests; the king's "policy of digvijaya" |
| Aihole Inscription |
Composed by Ravikirti for Pulakeshin II (Chalukya) |
Records the defeat of Harsha |
| Nasik Prashasti |
Gautami Balashri (for Gautamiputra Satakarni, Satavahana) |
Satavahana achievements |
| Mandsaur Inscription |
Vatsabhatti (Gupta period) |
Guild of silk weavers |
| Work |
Author |
Subject |
| Rajatarangini |
Kalhana |
History of the kings of Kashmir |
| Tahqiq-i-Hind (Kitab-ul-Hind) |
Al-Biruni |
India in the eleventh century |
| Tarikh-i-Firoz Shahi |
Ziauddin Barani |
Delhi Sultanate (Tughlaq period) |
| Tughlaq Nama and Khazain-ul-Futuh |
Amir Khusrau |
Reign of Alauddin Khalji and the Tughlaqs |
| Futuhat-i-Firoz Shahi |
Firoz Shah Tughlaq (autobiographical) |
His own reign |
| Tabaqat-i-Nasiri |
Minhaj-us-Siraj |
Early Delhi Sultanate |
| Work |
Author |
Subject |
| Baburnama (Tuzuk-i-Baburi) |
Babur (in Turkish) |
Babur's memoirs |
| Humayun Nama |
Gulbadan Begum |
Humayun's reign |
| Akbarnama and Ain-i-Akbari |
Abul Fazl |
Akbar's reign and administration |
| Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri |
Jahangir (autobiographical) |
Jahangir's reign |
| Padshahnama |
Abdul Hamid Lahori |
Shah Jahan's reign |
| Muntakhab-ul-Lubab |
Khafi Khan |
Aurangzeb and after |
- Ashoka's edicts were deciphered by James Prinsep in 1837.
- Prayag Prashasti (Allahabad Pillar) by Harishena praises Samudragupta.
- Ain-i-Akbari (by Abul Fazl) is the administrative volume of the Akbarnama.